In contrast, the England international confessed he failed to strike up anywhere near the same level of relationship with interim boss Rafa Benitez.

"He was not really a manager you could sit and talk with," he added. "There are certain managers you build relationships with and feel closer to. He's not that kind of bloke.

"Other managers draw a bit of a line and keep it that way, Rafa is more like that.

"We had a couple of conversations about my future in which he was quite honest saying that he wasn't really involved, so that's where the conversation ends."

Lampard, who found the net 17 times last season and became Chelsea's all time top-scorer with 203 goals, overtaking Bobby Tambling, was understanding of the Spaniard's technique and praised his work ethos.

"He is not a manager that goes round putting his arm around every player - and i'm not saying that's wrong," he continued.

"There are a lot of managers like that; Fabio Capello was like that with England. He is a profesional bloke. He prepared very well for games.

"And it was a difficult situation for him as well. As interim manager it was always going to be quite difficult for him because we all knew it was only until the end of the season.

"So there was no planning, no long-term relationships were going to be built. So, in that respect he did a good job because we got the end result - success."